Call Your Representative Today!

Call Your Representative Today to support the Kaptur-Farr proposal to HR 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009

H.R. 2749, The Food Safety Enhancement Act, has been moving through committee and now is slated to go to the floor of the House today, Wednesday, July 29. The bill will go to the house floor under a suspension vote, which means limited debate and no amendments can be introduced on the floor. A two-thirds majority is needed for passage. Last week, representatives Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), Sam Farr (CA-17), Maurice Hinchey (NY-22), Jesse Jackson Jr. (IL-2), Peter Welch (VT-at large), Chellie Pingree (ME-1) and Earl Blumenauer (OR-3) submitted a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee with specific proposed changes to HR 2749 that addresses many of the concerns raised by the sustainable and organic agriculture community. H.R. 2749 contains provisions that could hinder sustainable, and organic farmers’ access to markets, require expensive fees, and lead to dismantling of important conservation practices and wildlife habitats. PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IMMEDIATELY! It is important that you call your Representative today, Wednesday, and ask them to join the effort to protect small and mid-sized family farmers, the environment, and consumer choice by supporting the provisions in the Kaptur-Farr proposal to HR 2749.  Please see our friends at NSAC for further background information. It’s easy to call. Please call or fax your Representative’s office and ask to speak with the aide that works on agriculture.  If you don’t know your Representative’s name, please click here http://www.house.gov/ and enter your zip code in the top left-hand corner of the screen. Then call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be directly connected to your Representative’s office: 202-224-3121. The message is simple.”I am a constituent of Representative___________ and I am calling to ask him/her to support the Kaptur-Farr proposal to HR 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.  I am also asking him/her to vote against HR 2749 unless the proposals included in the Kaptur-Farr letter are included in the final bill.”

Help! Throw a Party!

Did you know that SFC has only 10 full time staff? With only one major annual fundraiser each spring, SFC would love help from community members like you in identifying and producing small-scale events in homes and local businesses. Know a foodie new to town who’s been wanting to get more into the local nonprofit scene? Throw a soiree with him or her, and let guests know they’ll not only be supporting your culinary creations, but also raising money for a great organization!

Get started today by filling out this simple form and returning to Susan Leibrock, SFC’s Community Relations Director (susanl AT sustainablefoodcenter DOT com). Thanks for championing SFC’s cause.

FRESH benefit for SFC on sale now!

Edible Austin and  Alamo Drafthouse will present an Alamo Drafthouse Film Feast at Boggy Creek Farm on Tuesday, August 25. The event will feature a screening of the new food movie, FRESH, and will benefit the Sustainable Food Center (SFC). All interested community groups are invited to attend as co-hosts and help us present an evening of conversation, farm-fresh picnic feasting along with viewing  this outstanding new film about food in America. Co-hosts include Front Porch Project, Farmhouse Delivery, Zhi Tea, Maine Root, Texas French Bread, Paula’s Texas Spirits, Greenling, Independence Brewing Co., Better-World Maker’s Co-op, Slow Food Austin and others. Please contact Marla Camp at Edible Austin to get involved. DETAILS: Cocktails and Conversation: 7:00pm – 8:30pm; locally-sourced picnic dinner by Alamo chefs John Bullington and Trish Eichelberger: 7:30pm; FRESH film screening begins at dark. Tickets: $35 advance only (Includes food and drinks) will be available soon (check back for details). Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets to spread out on the lawn for picnic and film showing. Limited seating.

ABOUT THE FILM: FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet. Listen to an interview with FRESH film director Ana Sofia Joanes by Marla Camp on the Edible Communities Show on Heritage Radio Network on Monday, July 20, 4–5 pm (and archived after show date).

A new day…8 am to noon

We are making history…I don’t think any farmers market in Austin has been open from 8 am to noon on Saturdays other than the time when we tried it the first year, in 2003, for the Austin Farmers’ Market. Back then, we thought it was a good idea (in May, folks, when summer started typically in Central Texas) to have an earlier morning market. Many shoppers stayed in bed until a little later. Austin proved it was still a slacker-town.

That was before the Food, Inc. film, Fast Food Nation, Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma (and subsequent In Defense of Food), Super Size Me, and many other mass media appeals to human sensibility to eat more of what nature gives you–and not fall for the tantilizing food industry’s manufacturered “tastes” largely constructed of atoms of fat, salt and sugar with a binding of genetically modified corn holding it all together.

Just as the Austin Farmers’ Market has grown up, you as consumers have too. There are the stalwarts who have always known (and who have for seven years come to the market when the first clang of the market’s opening bell rings). And now there are more. You are the newly awakened body of tasters who truly taste, who truly enjoy the art of eating from local sources. You understand the intricacies of what makes a sustainable food system, including your part in it.

We appreciate that–and we want to make it easier for you to participate in a year-round routine of shopping from the best sources, the farmers themselves. Thus the change of our Saturday hours to 8 am to noon, through October 24th. (We change back to 9 am – 1 pm October 31st, with the daylight savings time change, and will flip back to 8 am to noon in March, when it changes again).

We have experienced your commitment in the continued rise of attendance at the market over the years and now we think the time is right to be able to set a schedule for the Saturday market that fluctuates by the seasons. We did not think this was possible in the past, to have such an avid following that would take notice of changed hours mid-stream. But now we do. It is a new day….

Internships Posted for Fall and Spring!

UPDATE: APPLICATIONS FOR INTERNSHIPS FOR FALL ‘09 and SPRING ‘10 – NOW CLOSED – THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SUBMITTED AND SELECTIONS WILL BE MADE SOON.

Sprouting Healthy Kids (SHK) is Sustainable Food Center’s farm to school and food systems education project which includes local foods in the school cafeteria, delivery of in-class food-systems lessons, and a hands-on after-school gardening and cooking program. Through SHK, the improved access to healthy, local food and the accompanying educational efforts will increase the likelihood that school children will consume more fresh vegetables and fruit. The project is being implemented in Austin-area schools which have a high percentage of students at increased risk for diet-related diseases according to ethnicity and income indicators, and helps to overcome barriers which prevent schools from purchasing, preparing, and serving local fresh food. SFC will place up to six interns/practicum students for the 2009-10 school year (single semester opportunities are available).

Dates:
Fall Semester: August 24, 2009 through December 17, 2009
Spring Semester: January 4, 2010 through June 2, 2010
*interested students may apply for Fall or Spring or Both. Placement preference is given to students wishing to enroll in both semesters.
**Start and end dates are somewhat flexible, depending on your academic calendar.

Potential Learning Objectives:
1. Develop teaching skills with youth populations who are at-risk for diet-related disease including obesity
2. Gain understanding of farm-to-school and food-systems education interventions, how such programs can improve dietary habits among students, and what measurements can indicate positive change
3. Receive practical experience with educational resource development and delivery and with school-community partnerships
4. Learn basic food gardening techniques and learn to utilize school food gardens as instructional tools.

Primary Responsibilities: Approximately 12 hours per week

1. Assess nutrition and food-systems education resources, including existing activity guides and in-class lessons, in comparison with farm-to-school and food-systems education project goals and objectives.

2. Develop additional educational resources to meet project goals and objectives.

3. Deliver in-class middle school lessons focused on local, sustainable food systems in context of various core-curriculum classes and in alignment with class schedules and standards

4. Plan for and deliver weekly after-school programs, including hands-on gardening and healthy-cooking activities.

5. Serve as liaison between SFC and school, including attending Campus Advisory Committee, PTA, and other relevant meetings and events.

Qualifications:
1. Interest in sustainable food systems and health/nutrition
2. Some experience with gardening and cooking, and working with youth (middle school)
3. Must be responsible, dependable and be able to commit to at least one semester (or, preferably an entire school year)
4. Bilingual (English and Spanish) preferred

Application Instructions:
Send cover letter via email to andrew@sustainablefoodcenter.org along with current CV or resume. See www.sustainablefoodcenter.org for organizational information.

For more information, please contact:

Andrew Smiley
Farm Direct Projects Director
Sustainable Food Center

512-236-0074 ext. 102
andrew@sustainablefoodcenter.org

Farm to Plate Photos!

Farm to Plate

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS, FARMERS, CHEFS, FOOD ARTISANS, WINERIES, MIXOLOGISTS, BREWERIES, MUSICIANS, VOLUNTEERS AND GUESTS for making Farm to Plate a fundraising success for SFC!

PHOTOS now available for preview and purchase here (password: Farm), huge thanks to Laura and Eric of Anthology Photography.

Farm to Plate 2009 at beautiful Barr Mansion

Please contact us to get on the early-bird waiting list for tickets and tables for 2010 at: susanl AT sustainablefoodcenter DOT org.

Interested in sponsorship? Call 512-236-0074 ext. 111

UPDATE: Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma Reinstated at WSU

Food Democracy Now has just spoken with Washington State University’s President’s office, congratulating them on the decision to reinstate Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, as part of their Common Reading Program. Quoting David Murphy, a founder of FDN:

Within hours of sending out our alert, we received the good news from a supporter named Lynn:

“The power of numbers! By the time I called, 3:21 Pacific, the president’s office told me that they’ve gotten so many calls about this  and, thanks to a generous donation by an alumni, the program and the book has been reinstated. Food Democracy Now! rocks!”

While we appreciate that sentiment, we’d also like to give credit where credit is due.

We understand that food safety lawyer Bill Marler, a WSU alum and former Regents of the university, had a conversation with President Elson Floyd about the reading program this afternoon and offered to pay for Michael Pollan’s trip as well as pay for the full cost to cover the Common Reading Program.

Food Democracy Now! wants to thank Mr. Marler for his extremely generous support on this issue and also everyone who responded to this alert. Three cheers for Pollan, Marler and WSU!

This is a testament to what we can accomplish when we all work together.

Speak Up for Academic Freedom

Via Food Democracy Now:

Last week, Washington State University announced that it was pulling Michael Pollan’s best-selling book The Omnivore’s Dilemma from its required Common Reading Program for all incoming freshman due to pressure from corporate agribusiness.

This type of censorship cannot stand!

In March of this year, a university committee had selected Pollan’s book, which takes a careful look at how America produces its food, and decided that it was an excellent choice for the student body of the land grant university.

Unfortunately, WSU administrators later removed the book from the required common reading program. While top WSU officials attributed removal of Pollan’s book from the reading program to hard financial times, despite the fact the 4,000 copies of the book have already been purchased, some faculty members have spoken out.

One WSU professor, quoted in The Chronicle of Higher Education – anonymously, for fear of losing their job, stated that Pollan’s book was pulled “because of the politics of the agriculture industry…and that President Floyd decided that this was not a battle he wanted to wage.”

It’s time that this type of corporate control over land grant education and research end.

We believe that academic freedom and vigorous debate on all intellectual issues should be encouraged at every university, especially land grant universities charged with turning out the next generation of leaders.

For more information on how to get involved, visit Food Democracy Now.

Action Alert: NAIS Listening Session May 20

In partnership with our friend Judith McGeary of Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, we are spreading the word about next Wednesday’s USDA Listening Session on NAIS (National Animal Identification System) legislation. Not only are there a mere two hours for public comment, but we’re hearing that the federal government means to move swiftly toward an approval. NAIS would result in a more centralized food system and do nothing to improve food safety. Rather, NAIS would impose intrusive, one-size-fits-all standards to farms, going so far as to microchip every animal on every farm. If you agree that our public servants’ time would be better spent regulating truly threatening forces, such as fast-food marketing to our children, speak up!

Won’t you lend your voice to small farms by coming in person on 5/20 to the Embassy Suites Hotel (Austin Central), 5901 N IH-3?

Registration can be done online or in person; be sure to arrive no later than 8am for a 9am start. If you can only give an hour or two, be there at the beginning, as we’re hoping to have a large turnout and media coverage first thing in the morning.

SFC Wins ECT Pioneer Award 2009

On Friday, May 8th, SFC learned we are recipients of the 2009 Envision Central Texas Community Stewardship Award in the Pioneer category. Sprouting Healthy Communities, a new initiative which brings together SFC’s three programs while building upon our successful Sprouting Healthy Kids pilot project, demonstrated to ECT judges that SFC “has left familiar territory and taken a different path that reflects the ECT vision.”

ECT Chair, Jim Walker; SFC Board President, Vince Ashwill, SFC Exec. Director, Ronda Rutledge and Bastrop County Judge, Ronnie McDonald

Central Texas is projected to grow by over a million people in the next 20-30 years. To help address this growth, Envision Central Texas, founded in 2001, will promote a common vision for the region which preserves and enhances our natural resources, economic vitality, social equity and overall quality of living. SFC is proud to be considered a pioneer in realizing this vision.